Different is Good
by Tooooomanyships
Summary: Harvey is in his second year at Harvard Law, he lives in a decent apartment building. One night he's running out for a midnight snack and sees Mike sleeping in the hallway with a blanket covered in cartoons- and well Harvey isn't completely heartless. College AU (Rating M for future chapters, bear with me.) It's kind of funny, kind of angsty, kinda fluffy, it's everything.
1. Stumbling onto Something Good

**Disclaimer: I don't own suits or any of it's lovely characters.**

Harvey looked at the clock for the 4th time in the last 20 minutes, he sighed, already a little after twelve and he isn't even close to done with his report for his morning class. His stomach grumbled.

"If I'm going to suffer- might as well be on a full stomach." He said out loud to no one really, he was alone in his shoddy apartment.

He stood up and grabbed his keys and wallet, making sure he had enough cash to get a decent meal, satisfied he threw on his jacket and headed out the apartment. And then he stopped. There in front his neighbor's door was a man? Boy? A person huddled under a blanket.

"Uh, are you okay?" He asked. The stranger poked his head out from under the blanket, blue eyes wide.  
"Me? Yeah I'm fine, my roommate has his girlfriend over and- well- you know, they- the hallway just seemed like the best bet for a goodnight's rest." He stammered out. Harvey chuckled.

"That couldn't possibly be comfortable."  
"It's more comfy than in there, I don't even have a bed."

"Just move in?" The stranger nodded. "Well I'm Harvey, and I guess I'm your new neighbor." Harvey outstretched his hand.

"Mike." He said shaking the hand- at a kind of awkward angle considering he was still on the goddamned floor.

"Well Mike, I'll see you around." Harvey said as he walked down the hall to the stairs.  
"See ya Harvey." He heard from a distance.

When Harvey returned home he wasn't surprised to see Mike still on the floor, he was surprised to see him still awake though.

"Not so easy sleeping in the hallway, huh?"  
"It's really bright."  
"Cause' it's a hallway."  
"Well I'll take my chances with the light over the noise from in there." Mike tipped his head towards his apartment door.  
"Are you hungry?" Harvey asked, surprising Mike- and well himself.  
"Huh?"  
"I got lots of Thai." He said gesturing to the take out bag in his hand.  
"I-I can eat, sure- thanks." He said slowly getting up from his pile of blankets.

"You can bring your blanket and shit- just toss it on the couch." Harvey said, opening the door and letting Mike walk through first.

"Nice place."  
"Isn't it the same as yours?"  
"I'd hardly call it mine- but not really, yours looks lived in- looks like a home."

"Well when I'm not in a lecture hall, I'm here cramming, writing, or studying." He said moving some papers off the coffee table and setting the food down. He dropped onto the couch and motioned for Mike to do the same.

"You're not like secretly a murderer right? Like the hallway thing isn't some rouse to get into my apartment and kill me right?" Harvey asked, hands filled with boxes of Thai food and chopsticks. Mike busted out laughing.

"Do I look like a murderer- I have a pikachu blanket." Harvey frowned.  
"What's a pikachu?" He asked, handing over a box of takeout and pair of chopsticks. Mike stared at him wide eyed.  
"You didn't watch Pokémon?"  
"Nope."  
"Oh my god."  
"Is it like a movie-or what- why are you looking at me like that?"  
"I'm going to eat and pretend that you didn't miss out on the greatest thing of our youth." To emphasize his words he opened his box and shoveled a pile of noodles into his mouth.

Harvey just shook his head and followed suit, eating his noodles. They ate in a weirdly comfortable silence, Mike silently taking note of things around the apartment.

"Law school?" He asked when he was done eating. Harvey nodded.  
"What about you?"  
"Still undergrad, 3rd year transfer. Don't really know what I want to do yet, but I've been majoring in psychology."  
"It took me a while to figure out I wanted to do law, you got time don't rush it." Mike smiled.  
"Well I should head back into the hall- you seem to be working on something." He said getting up, starting to gather his things.

Harvey thought for a minute, _there is really no reason Mike can't stay the night here- the kid is nice, he doesn't need to sleep on the ground in the dirty hall._

"You can stay- my couch is more comfy than a bright hallway."  
"What about your," he picked up a stack of papers from the table, "case brief due- tomorrow?"  
"I can work on it in my room- you're not that big of a distraction."  
"You don't have to do that."

"I know, and I wouldn't offer if I didn't want to, now put your shit down and get some rest kid." Mike smiled and put his pikachu blanket back down on the couch, Harvey looked at it. "This little yellow- mouse? That's pikachu?" He points to a figure on the blanket.

"Yeah, and he was fucking awesome." Mike grinned, and well it seemed to be contagious cause' Harvey was grinning too.

"Get some rest." He picked up their empty takeout containers and threw them away in the kitchen, he walked back into his living room to get his papers, smiling to himself when he noticed Mike was already curled up on the couch, eyes already drooping. He flashed Harvey a grateful smile.

"Night Harvey thanks for this."

"It's nothing, goodnight." Harvey turned off the lights and headed towards his room, ready to get back to his assignment, but feeling a little light hearted as he went.

It honestly just felt good to have another person in the apartment with him- he really doesn't have people here except when his brother Marcus or his only fucking friend Donna come to visit (Harvey doesn't have friends at Harvard because he thinks, _everyone is fucking pretentious_ ), sometimes he finds someone to share a bed with for the night, but he rarely has actual company. Company is nice, Mike is nice. Plus Mike is his new neighbor- sure he doesn't even remember who his old neighbors were and didn't noticed that anyone left. Okay to hell with it, he doesn't socialize in his building.

Maybe having more than one friend would make his life less fucking boring, Mike seems like a fun guy- he has a mouse blanket.

 **AN: If you like so far, drop a comment tell me how you feel. Anything you want to see happen, feelings, suggestions. Thanks for reading!**


	2. New is welcomed

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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"Why did I choose such an annoying fucking alarm?" Harvey asked out loud as he slammed his hand down onto the machine. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with the palms of his hands and managed to drag his ass out of bed and into the bathroom.

Showered, and in clean clothes he exited his room at about 8:00, giving himself an hour and a half to eat and get to class, more than enough time. Then he smelt it. Bacon? Did he even have bacon in his fridge? He turned the corner to kitchen and the site shocked him- cause' he honestly forgot about Mike sleeping on the couch. But there he was, frying bacon; cups of coffee were already on the counter- along with plates of eggs. Mike looked up at him and smiled.

"I figured me making you breakfast was fair." He shrugged- answering the unasked question.

"Did I even have anything in my fridge? How'd you find everything?" Harvey managed to get out.

"Well you had eggs, I ran to my apartment for the bacon though, but I had to brush my teeth anyways. And honestly Harvey the place isn't huge, it didn't take too much time to find a pan." He said shutting off the stove and taking pieces of bacon from the pan and putting them on the two plates. He's grinning, and oddly enough Harvey finds himself cracking a smile.

"Thank you, you really didn't have to."

"I know. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't want to." He said, mocking Harvey's words from last night. "Seriously Harvey, I wanted too- I slept great and you saved me so much from so much back pain- breakfast is the least I can do." And his smile is so brutally sincere that Harvey can't help but accept Mike's words. He smiles and nods his thanks and they again eat in comfortable silence.

"You have any morning classes?" Harvey asks when they're done eating, grabbing their plates and putting them in the sink.

"Yeah, one that starts at 8:45"

"You know it's 8:30 right?"

"What? Oh Fuck I'm going to be so late, I got to go." He said rushing into the living room.

"Mike calm down, just leave your stuff here, you can get it later. Just get to class." Mike nodded vigorously and bolted out the door- running all the way to the end of the hall, before running back and poking his head through the apartment door.

"Thanks again Harvey." He flashes possibly the brightest smile that Harvey has ever seen, and then he's gone again.

Harvey grins to himself as he folds up Mike's Pikachu blanket and places it on the corner of the couch placing his, some animal that looks like a lizard with fire on its tail, pillow on top of it. He trudges back to his room and throws his case brief, notepad, and some pens into his messenger bag and sets out to Harvard for another day of boring classes.

While at school Harvey can't help but think about Mike and his weird cartoon bed items, and his messy blonde hair, and his really bright eyes and smile.

Lucky for Harvey, Mike has a pretty similar train of though going on.

In a different building somewhere on the Harvard campus Mike is struggling to pay attention to whatever the fuck his professor is talking about. Developmental whatever.

It doesn't matter anyway, he'll read the textbook eventually and he'll never forget any of it. This doesn't require his immediate attention. Harvey however, he was so nice to Mike. And to be quite honest- Mike isn't used to that.

His parents weren't the most affectionate- then his dad died and his mom remarried to a guy with a kid about his age. Trevor, they were close for a while- until they fell for the same girl, Jenny. Trevor beat the shit out of him when he found out that he liked her, and him and Trevor haven't been the same since. Now Jenny's been dating Trevor for a while, and he just moved in with them after transferring to Harvard- but it's quite clear he isn't really welcomed. But Harvey, he was nice- so welcoming. He didn't even know Mike but was better to him than his own stepbrother was. It was new- and Mike really liked the change.

An hour or so later Mike was trudging up the stairs to the 4th floor of their apartment building- he was planning on picking his shit up from Harvey's place and taking a nap on the couch in "his" apartment. But when he knocked no one answered- he shrugged it off and went into his apartment. He assumed Harvey's classes ran later than his. Upon entering the apartment he was surprised to find Trevor sitting on the couch.

"Don't you have class?" He asked casually.

"Ended an hour ago, where were you?"

"School."

"Meant last night dumb ass, you weren't on the couch this morning."

"Slept in the hall last night." He shrugged it off and went to the fridge to get a beer.

"Why? And where's all your childish shit"

"Does it matter Trev?"

"Is it cause Jen and I were so loud." He smirked

"Why do you always have to be such a dick?"

"A dick? I let you live here for free, so watch who you call dick."

Mike was growing pretty fucking irritated with always been bullied by Trevor, having him hold shit over him.

"Trevor, you are a fucking dick." He snarled and walked out of the apartment, not even stopping to see if Harvey was home yet. He walked all the way down the stairs and sat on the little step at the entrance to the building.

He wasn't quite sure how long he'd been sitting there- he was lost in his head, a hand on his shoulder knocking him into the real world.

"What are ya doing out here?" Harvey asked as he offered Mike and hand up- which he gladly took.

"Fight with my roommate" he said as he took a swig of his now lukewarm beer.

"You sound pretty pissed."

"He's a dick- he's always been a fucking dick." Mike said as he kicked the tip of his shoe into the pavement.

"Well you staying out here isn't going to solve anything."

"I'm not really ready to go talk shit out."

"Well me staying out here isn't going to solve anything."

"Oh- you should head up, I'll get my things in a few minutes." He grumbled the last few words.

"You're so dense kid, want to come up with me and drink a beer that isn't room temperature. I got a pretty cool mouse blanket in my apartment that I think you would love." Harvey said as he opened the door, causing Mike to grin.

"I do love a cold beer- and Pikachu is so much more than just a mouse." He said as he walked inside.

"Maybe you can explain the fire lizard thing." Harvey said following him up.

"Charmander Harvey, Charmander. "

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 **AN: Drop a review telling me how you feel! It would mean a lot. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Need You To Be Okay

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the computer I wrote this on.**

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They fell into a simple routine after that, every Friday night after classes Mike and Harvey would sit on Harvey's couch with Mike's Pikachu blanket between them. Sometimes Mike went "home" to his apartment across the hall, most of the time he crashed on Harvey's couch. Sometimes when he stayed Mike would make them breakfast before he went to his Saturday class (albeit he started a bit earlier now) and then he would pick his stuff up in the afternoon. Sometimes they would just sit in silence and work on their respective assignments; sometimes they'd watch a movie together. They found they both had a penchant for quoting lines, sometimes they'd tone the movie down and quote the whole damn thing together- like they were currently doing with The Godfather.

"Do you have faith in my judgment?"

"Yes."

"Do I have your loyalty?"

"Yes."

"Then order pizza with cheese in the crust."

"No."

"Come on Harvey, please. You'll love it I swear."

"I'm content with my regular pizza choices."

"You're so boring."

"We all can't be a Pokémon loving, cheese crust eating weirdo now, can we?"

"I guess not." Mike pouted.

Harvey reached into his pocket for his cell phone. He ignored Mike's pout as he scrolled through his contacts for his favorite pizza joint.

Dialing, he glanced over at Mike- who was currently pouting at Don Corleone and found his resolve crumbling.

"One large mushroom and pepperoni pizza- and uh, with the cheese in the crust- thanks."

We he hung up he was met with Mike's smile.

"I better not regret this kid."

"You won't Harvey I swear."

Thirty or forty minutes later Harvey was actually quite enjoying his cheese crust filled pizza (he wouldn't say it out loud, he wasn't ready for Mike's 'I told you so'), only to be interrupted by a loud banging on the door. Mike startled from the loud noise and looked at Harvey.

"I got it, keep eating your mountain of cholesterol." He said as he got up and went to the door.

"Can I help you?" He asked to the slightly disheveled- definitely drunk man leaning against his doorframe. He kept the door opened a crack- not letting the stranger see inside.

"Where is he?" The man asked- and if Harvey had even the smallest doubt about this guy's alcohol intake, he definitely didn't anymore as he was met with intense alcohol breath.

"Where is who?" Harvey kept his calm- good lawyer practice.

"My shit brother."

"I don't know who your brother is, I don't know who you are."

"Cut your fucking shit, blonde hair, blue eyes, has a bunch of fucking childish sheets and pillows like the fucking child he is." The stranger- who Harvey gathered to be Mike's brother, tried pushing his way into his apartment.

"Hey I'm going to ask you nicely to calm down and wait in the hall." Harvey said with a firm hand to the man's chest- pushing him forcibly back into the hall.

Closing the door- and well locking it- Harvey spun to face Mike and felt a tightening in his chest as the kid's expression. He had put his plate down- half eaten pizza and all, and had turned visibly paler than he already was (and Mike was already pale) and looked genuinely scared and ashamed.

"I'm sorry Harvey- I should go." Mike said getting up and rushing to get his things.

"Hey- kid slow down." He took a couple of steps towards Mike and gently grabbed the Charmander pillow from him.

"Talk to me, Mike."

"He's my step brother, and he really doesn't like me much."

"Why do you live with him then?"

"He's really all the family I have left, and I can't really afford an apartment. Plus with our schedules I never really see him anyway so it's not that bad."

"He seems like a fucking dick." A fucking dick that won't stop pounding on the door- Harvey's going to have so many complaints filed against him later. Every time Mike's brother pounded on the door- Mike flinched and it made Harvey, for lack of better terms, really fucking angry.

"We used to be friends, we used to be like real brothers." Mike said quietly.

"What happened?"

"I liked the same girl he did so he beat the shit out of me." It was Harvey's turn to wince.

"You don't have to face him- he's drunk and could try to- you know."

"Hurt me? Yeah, probably. But if I don't face him he'll probably break your door down and I can't afford to buy you a new door." Mike said forcing a smile.

"Not the time for jokes Mike."

"Then what do you want me to do Harvey? I got to go home sometime." Harvey sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"I don't know. If you really want to talk to him let me come with you."

"I don't need a bodyguard Harvey, I can handle Trevor."

"Fine, but if you need me call me okay? And leave your stuff here."

"Why?"

"I can't eat all this pizza by myself." He said with a weak smile, hoping that Mike caught the ' I need to make sure you're okay' hidden in his statement.

Mike smiled softly at him.

"I'll be back." He said with his best (worst) terminator voice and took a deep breath and headed out the door. And honestly Harvey didn't think he would breathe easily until he walked back through it.

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 **AN: Been busy with college applications- forgive me.**


	4. If You Asked Me To

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING**

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Harvey didn't know what to do with himself while Mike was out in the hall with- what did Mike say his name was? He folded up the Pikachu blanket and placed it in its spot with a squirtle pillow on top (charmander got dirty and Mike lost bulbasaur when he was eleven). He tidied up a bit, putting dishes in the sink – leaving Mike's half eaten pizza where it was but taking the rest of the pizza and putting it on the kitchen counter. He had calmed down a bit- he hadn't even heard any shouting from outside so he assumed everything was okay.

Until there was rough bang against his door followed by a lot of yelling, male and female yelling. Harvey didn't even hesitate to run to the door and swing it open and site before him did nothing short of making him see red.

There was Mike- his friend, _his_ Mike, lying on the floor with blood dripping out of his nose, a split lip and a nasty looking gash on his temple. He didn't even hesitate to drop to his knees and cradle Mike's head in his hand.

"Hey- hey you okay?"

"Head hurts Harv."

"It's okay, I got you,"

Mike's state of pain did nothing to stop his roommate- his fucking brother from throwing what appeared to be Mike's belongings at him. Harvey wasn't going to let this happen, who the fuck did this guy think he was?

As he was standing up Mike caught hold of his wrist, stopping his movement.

"Don't." Was all he said as he attempted to sit up.

"You don't know what I'm going to do."

"He isn't worth it, trust me." Mike stood up and it _pained_ Harvey to see the limp in the kid's step. Mike staggered into Harvey's apartment and just then Trevor came back out into the hall with more of Mike's things in his hand, and Harvey felt a swell of pride to see Mike definitely gave as good as he got- Trevor was sporting what was soon to be a black eye and a split lip. He seemed to notice Mike had hauled ass to Harvey's room and took a step forward only to have Harvey block his path.

"I don't think so." He roughly pushed Trevor backwards.

"Who the fuck are you? This doesn't concern you- you're nothing to him." Trevor spat angrily.

"That's up for debate- but that is my apartment. And you can not come in, and he is my friend and you touch him again and I'll kick your ass." He said calmly, masking the rage he so deeply felt.

Trevor dumped the rest of Mike's stuff onto the floor in front of Harvey and walked away- down the hall and out of sight. Only then did Harvey notice the girl hiding behind the door of Mike's apartment, or well former apartment because Harvey isn't letting him step back inside.

She had tear lines running down her cheeks, and Harvey had a gut feeling she meant Mike no harm.

"Does he have more stuff in there?" She nodded. "Can you bring it out for me?" She nodded again and set off into the apartment.

Harvey took to picking up all Mike's things and taking them inside his apartment, he assumed Mike was probably in the bathroom as he was no where to be seen in the living room. As he was bringing in the last of the stuff from the hallway floor, the girl appeared with a rather large box, which she handed to him- it was filled with clothes and small personal touches.

"He's allergic to kiwi." She said placing an EpiPen on top of his clothes in the box and leaving the apartment closing the door behind her.

Harvey sighed; he placed the box on the floor and set out to see if Mike was okay. When he noticed Mike wasn't in the bathroom he felt a slight onset of panic and rushed to the only other room in the apartment- his bedroom. His heart calmed at the sight of Mike lying on his back on the side of Harvey's bed. He walked over to him and placed a gentle hand on Mike's shoulder and shook him softly.

"Hey- Mike you need to get up." Mike blinked groggily at him for a few seconds before sitting up quickly.

"Shit- Fuck did I get blood on your sheets? I didn't mean to fall asl-"

"Hey, hey it's okay, they're lame anyway- no precious Pokémon on them." Harvey's heartstrings tugged at the sight of Mike's upturned lips.

"We need to get you cleaned up, Mike. Come on."

He helped Mike stand up and led him into the bathroom. He closed the toilet lid and instructed Mike to sit on it. Pulling out the first aid kit Donna made him buy, when he told her he picked up boxing, from under the sink, he began to clean Mike's wounds.

"This might sting a little," he said as he wiped Mike's temple with the antiseptic. "It's not deep- no stitches needed." He felt Mike's sigh of relief against his arm. He placed a waterproof Band-Aid on Mike's head and had to deeply resist the urge to kiss his forehead.

"Take a shower, I'll put something for you to wear on my bed okay?"

"You don't have to do all this Harvey."

"I want to, now go." Mike nodded. "Fresh towels are on the shelf." He said as he exited the bathroom, closing the door as he left.

He started to go through Mike's box when he heard the shower start to run, he grinned when he found a pair of Batman pajamas and decided that's what Mike was going to wear tonight. He grabbed a pair of boxers from the box and took it to his room. He frowned when he spotted a few drops of blood on his duvet and pillow so he stripped his bed of them and threw them onto a chair in the corner of the room. Walking back into the living room he retrieved Mike's Pokémon blanket and pillow and spread them on the bed, Mike's pajamas on top.

He was making coffee in the kitchen when he heard the shower turn off and Mike go from the bathroom to the bedroom. He came into the kitchen a few minutes later looking, for lack of better terms, really fucking cute with his hair matted down and a Batman emblem across his chest.

"Why do you have all my clothes?" Mike asked- a bit shyly, he was blushing a bit.

"I wasn't going to leave them in the hall."

"Why is my pillow and blanket in your room?" Harvey shrugged.

"Mine had blood on them." He concealed his smiled with his coffee cup.

Mike looked like he was about to argue but decided against it, instead choosing to ask-

"There more coffee?" Harvey smiled and filled Mike a cup.

"Anything else you need?"

"Nah, you've done enough for me already."

 _I'd do a lot more for you_ , Harvey wanted to say.

Later that night when Harvey basically forced Mike to bed after giving him some painkillers and made a move to leave the room, Mike again grabbed at his wrist with barely there energy.

"Don't." He said again.

"I wasn't going to do anything Mike." Mike frowned.

"I don't want you to go, need you to stay." Harvey understood, so he got under the cartoon sheets with Mike and _stayed._

 _Because had Mike asked him to._

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 **AN: Reviews mean a lot! Thanks for reading. Hope everyone going back to school is ready and okay.**


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